Here’s an opening that we’re looking forward to. One of New Zealand’s finest talents, Christian McCabe, has made the move across the ditch to Melbourne to open a bar that is a mix of drinking and dining. “After looking in many places and abandoning a project or two we have finally managed to secure a site in Carlton,” said McCabe about the new site where the former one-hat diner, Embrasse used to stand.
McCabe has won many awards in New Zealand, including NZ Bartender Magazine’s Bar of the Year three times in a row for Matterhorn, Cuisine magazine Restaurant of the Year, got a nod in Wine Spectator and was a finalist at Tales of the Cocktail in 2008 for Best Drink selection. That’s some pedigree! McCabe is excited about the move back to Melbourne, which he calls a second home, having worked there in 2001 at Honky Tonks under Michael Delany-Korabelnikova. “Melbourne, despite being the first international port from New Zealand, is actually one of the most exciting eating and drinking cities in the world at the moment,” said McCabe, “and I think it will be really exciting to be a part of it.”
McCabe, along with partners Sam Mugg, his sister Amber McCabe and her husband, Jay Comeskey, are hoping that the as-yet untitled bar will be open in early 2013 and will draw on food that is “Southern European, share plates, and drinks that go well with food.”
